The ID Theft Resource center recently released its overview of trends in identity theft for 2010. The following are areas to be wary as ID thieves get more and more creative:
- Increasing unemployment makes jobless vulnerable to job listing scams
- Otherwise honest people with maxed credit cards will turn criminal for quick cash–maybe using phony ads in on-line auctions, dumpster diving, and phone calls to get personally identifying information
- In-family cases will increase–those closest to us (friends, family, roommates, co-workers) have always been a significant source of id thieves
- ID theft of children’s SSN will increase
- Medical ID theft will increase as more people become unemployed and lose benefits
- Computer hackers will continue to wreak havoc–use strong passwords and on-line security software
- Those applying for government assistance may find benefits temporarily denied with id thieves capitlizing on weaknesses in the system
- As above, criminals capitalize on weaknesses in the system to avoid being tied to their own criminal record
- Social media remains low hanging fruit for identity thieves–be cautious and take advantage of security systems